Marty Scurll On Wanting To Bring CM Punk Out Of Retirement, Brock Lesnar, Creating His Character

Recently on Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast, radio personality and pro wrestling fan Sam Roberts talked to former ROH World Television Champion Marty Scurll. Among many other things, Scurll talked about his 'Party' Marty gimmick and the evolution of his character, why he started changing his look, the importance of creating your own character as an independent pro wrestler, whether he is a heel or a babyface, and his desire to bring CM Punk out of retirement.

On the subject of his failed 'Party' Marty gimmick, Scurll said he would like to apply some revisionist history to his situation to suggest that 'The Villain' gimmick was a natural progression for a character who was rejected as a fun-loving babyface.

"What I'd like to suggest now is my previous character, a fun-loving, good guy, 'Party' Marty, was actually the whole plan all along because all good villains start off as a nice person, something happens, and they turn into that evil villain, so I'm actually a genius. My character is like a long thing, like 12 years." Scurll explained, "I tried to be a good guy. I tried to be the one everyone loved. They turned their backs on me. Society turned on me. And then, I turned out to be an absolute asshole. Are you surprised? These people made this happen."

According to Scull, the creator of The Simpsons, Matt Groening, was quoted as saying that all great characters have recognizable silhouettes and this notion caused the Bullet Club member to start thinking about changing his look.

"There was a very famous quote, well, I'm not sure how famous it is, but a quote either way from Matt Groening who wrote The Simpsons. And he said that all great characters can be recognized from their silhouette. And I thought, 'well, that's an interesting point.'" Scurll continued, "and I thought, 'well, okay, I need to get something to mix this up. So yeah, it was a gradual thing. It wasn't like, 'this is my character!' It's an evolving thing. It still is, even to this day."

During the interview, Scurll admitted that he thought he would be a good wrestler and would be given a character later, but he realized that main event level performers have deep characters.

"I think originally I just assumed I'd be a really good wrestler and then someone would give me a character and I'd be good enough to play it off. Right, right, they'd be like, 'you're going to be Mantaur 2,' and I'm like, 'yes, I love it!' I could do that. No. But I think you quickly realize to get by and be successful in wrestling purely based on your in-ring ability is… you have to be really remarkable. Guys like 'Dynamite Kid' could do it, but I feel like to be a main event player and a character some people can get invested in, that's the most thing, I think."

In Scurll's view, Zack Sabre, Jr. and Will Ospreay are the best at what they do, so they do not have to worry about their pro wrestling personas as much, but they will have to eventually.

"If you look at the guys who have broke out from Europe, you have Zack [Sabre, Jr.] and you have [Will] Ospreay, who are really, really exceptional in their fields. Zack is the best technical wrestler and Ospreay is the best high flyer, so they don't have to rely as much on characters, but they will because they are the best in their field, but there will come a point when they'll have to excel in that character. Wrestling on TV and wrestling on the indies are two different things, so they'll have to."

When asked whether he must make the conscious effort to try to not get cheered, Scurll responded in the negative. Scurll went on to say he does not ascribe to the traditional heel/babyface dynamics of the past.

"What the hell is a heel? Who said I was a heel? I'm 'The Villain', I didn't say I was [a heel]. I don't play by these pro wrestling rules of faces and heels. I just don't. I don't care about that. You can live by those wrestling rules. I think outside the box. I'm a villain. I'm an antagonist. I do nasty things. If the people want to cheer or boo it, that's down to them. It's says more about them than it does about me."

Scurll gave WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar as an example of a top performer whose character is morally ambiguous.

"Now Brock Lesnar, is he a heel or a face? He's Brock Lesnar. I'm 'The Villain'. I'm not comparing myself to Brock Lesnar, but it's the same thing. I don't worry too much about that. I just want to entertain the people and give them something they can enjoy."

Finally, Scurll once again made mention of the fact that he would like to bring Punk out of retirement for a match.

"CM Punk, I'd like to bring CM Punk out of retirement and wrestle him for sure. I don't know if CM Punk listens to this show, but if he [does]…" Scurll added, "but CM Punk, if you're watching, come out of retirement. We can cause quite a bother of a wrestling match. What do you say? And that'd be fun, right? Yeah, that's one for the headlines!"

Shill, Roberts, shill. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.